Everything Will Change
by purplefeather21
Summary: He couldn't explain it. It was as if he knew her from somewhere else. Some other life or something like it.


**A/N: As a tribute of sorts, I figured I'd post my un-posted Lost oneshots before it ended. Well, it's started. The finale.**

**Disclaimer: Everything Lost related belongs to Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof.**

**Takes place anytime before The Candidate.**

* * *

**A thousand times I've seen you standing**

**Gravity like a lunar landing**

**Make me want to run till I find you**

_(Flashback)_

_"Why'd you say it freckles?" he asked her._

_Kate sighed. "We're trapped in here like animals. You know if I hadn't you'd be dead, Sawyer."_

_Despite the rough state he was in, Sawyer laughed. "So you admit it, then? You're in love with me."_

_She laughed despite herself. "You want me to be?"_

_He shook his head. "Hell no, freckles. Outlaws like us know better than to believe in love and fairytales."_

_(End of flashback)_

When Sawyer first got with Juliet, he didn't expect anything to come out of it. They were lonely; they agreed on that. He didn't expect to fall in love with her, but he did. He was happy.

It wasn't that his love for Kate died, because it didn't. it was subdued, or maybe it hadn't been. He wasn't sure. Maybe subconsciously he knew that he couldn't forget her. She was impossible to forget. He had lied when he said he had forgotten her and what she look like. Sawyer just knew bringing her up was a moot point. She wasn't here, but he was-with Juliet.

Except, damn. Having her back on the island reminded him of that. It reminded him of the period of time where he thought he could love her _one day._ Her kisses, her face, her freckles, her smile, attitude, recklessness-they were a part of him.

He cared about her, sure. But love? It wasn't for him. Not anymore.

**I shut the world away from here**

**Drift to you, you're all I hear**

**Everything we know fades to black**

_(Flashback)_

_"You think Jack will actually go through with his plan? That he'll actually give us a blank, clean state?"_

_Kate shrugged. "I don't know, Sawyer. Jack's so sure it will work. I hope it does."_

_Sawyer chuckled softly. "Oh, come on freckles. Is being one of the Oceanic Six not good enough?"_

_His former lover bit her lip, a sign of frustration. "We're sitting here on a house abandoned by the Others and used by the Dharma Initiative. In 1977! Being here, in the past…it's crazy! Everything about being her is insane."_

_"You'd be in prison, freckles. If we hadn't crashed, you wouldn't be free." he said gently._

_Kate nodded. "But is this better? Everything we've been through…"_

_"So you're saying all this time, all you've ever felt is pain and suffering? Months on this island and you never experienced one moment of happiness?"_

_The brunette shook her head. "No." She chuckled. "I think we're sort of proof of that. Or at least we were. For a while, anyway."_

_"Yeah." he said agreeing. "We sure were."_

_(End of flashback)_

**Half the time the world is ending**

**Truth is I am done pretending**

Then again, he'd done it with Juliet. He achieved _happiness._ For three damn years. It wasn't like he pined away for her and didn't attempt to be in a another relationship. He had, and so had she. With Jack, of all people.

Not that he was judging considering the history Juliet had, with the Others.

"Hey." Kate greeted, approaching him.

"Freckles." he said, not taking his eyes off of Locke and Sayid.

"You ever think that something's bound to go wrong?" she asked him.

"What do you mean, Kate?"

Kate sighed. "I mean, everything's different now. It's confusing."

"You regret coming back, freckles? Never pegged you as the type of person to run away." he teased.

She smiled. "I had to----"

Sawyer nodded. "Get Claire, I know."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Thought you just did, freckles."

"You think our life is going to be better? Once we get off this island?"

He shrugged. "Don't know, but I damn well hope it does. It'd hate everything that happened to just be for nothing."

**I never thought that I had anymore to give**

**Pushing me so far**

**Here I am without you**

_Flash-sideways, after catching Sayid_

"Still here?" he asks her. "Thought you were gonna be relocated or something."

She nods. "Or something. I guess there's a hold up or something. Not that they'd tell me."

He smiles despite himself. He'd get hell from Miles if he saw him now. There was just something about her. It was like her knew her from somewhere.

He sighed.

"What?" Kate asks him.

"Get up." Sawyer says quietly. "You can leave."

She gave him a look of surprise. "What are you--"

"Look," he said, grabbing his jacket and leading her away from the front. "My partner's busy with some guy that murdered people. Everyone else is out to lunch. If you go through the back, you can get the hell out of here."

She took the jacket he was offering.

"Thank you." she said quietly.

"Let's just say there's something about you." he said, chuckling. "I'll say you escaped my hold. Knock me out."

She starts walking away only to turn back suddenly. "James."

He chuckles. "Yes?"

Kate shakes her head. "Never mind."

Only when he slumps by the gate after getting her to hit him, does he realize something. He never told her his name.

He chuckles, blaming it on the weird connection and _pull _he felt towards her. Like he knew her from another life.

**Drink to all that we have lost**

**Mistakes we have made**

**Everything will change**

**But love remains the same**


End file.
